Posting this also here (also posted to video thread). I found this from reddit; if you are not sure how to play thief or want to get better, this person has some good thief guides: http://www.youtube.com/user/rainythief

He explains his builds, but more importantly he explains basic ideas how skills/traits work together. Builds will always change, but after understanding things you are ready to invent and improve your own build.

Here is dagger dagged backstab build explained. People seem to talk about this on every GW2 forum:

while using CoD, after I go stealth, in 50% of cases before I can go to the back of the mob, I somehow hot him with auto-attack. Is this because I have a bad keyboad / some setting of the game / something else?

while using CoD, after I go stealth, in 50% of cases before I can go to the back of the mob, I somehow hot him with auto-attack. Is this because I have a bad keyboad / some setting of the game / something else?

Simply disable auto attack. Stealth doesn't remove your auto attacking, so if you have it on you will Backstab the side/front of mob. Also; if you want to combine the signet(+150% dmg for next attack) to Backstab, disable auto attack or you will need to be insanely fast.*

Simply disable auto attack. Stealth doesn't remove your auto attacking, so if you have it on you will Backstab the side/front of mob. Also; if you want to combine the signet(+150% dmg for next attack) to Backstab, disable auto attack or you will need to be insanely fast.*

Strange, it does for me. I have auto attack on 1, and when I go stealth it doesn't auto attack my stealth 1 ability.

I've left the Backstabbing instant-gib build behind for now in favor of a Pistol/Dagger + Dagger/Dagger Bleed build.

I was having some issues with Backstabbing this week, maybe pure chance or bad luck idk, but the build does have some extreme downsides.

1. Yes, it's an guaranteed kill against any non-bunker spec every 45 seconds.
2. However most of the burst is negated by a single timely Dodge.
3. You still need 2-3 second to pull off the move, leaving room for knockdowns.
4. 1 Knockdown kann be enough to throw you off, completely wasting your burst.
5. Downed state is far more frustrating to deal with as a glass-cannon Thief.
6. While you may win any 1v1 in a matter of seconds, 2v1s become virtually impossible, especially with the downed-state.
7. People will note how squishy your are and start looking for you towards the end of the match.

A Pistol/Dagger spec is way more fun imo because it's not just a 1-trick pony every 45 seconds. It also has a lot less stress with downed states and can pull off 2v1s.

I've left the Backstabbing instant-gib build behind for now in favor of a Pistol/Dagger + Dagger/Dagger Bleed build.

I was having some issues with Backstabbing this week, maybe pure chance or bad luck idk, but the build does have some extreme downsides.

1. Yes, it's an guaranteed kill against any non-bunker spec every 45 seconds.
2. However most of the burst is negated by a single timely Dodge.
3. You still need 2-3 second to pull off the move, leaving room for knockdowns.
4. 1 Knockdown kann be enough to throw you off, completely wasting your burst.
5. Downed state is far more frustrating to deal with as a glass-cannon Thief.
6. While you may win any 1v1 in a matter of seconds, 2v1s become virtually impossible, especially with the downed-state.
7. People will note how squishy your are and start looking for you towards the end of the match.

A Pistol/Dagger spec is way more fun imo because it's not just a 1-trick pony every 45 seconds. It also has a lot less stress with downed states and can pull off 2v1s.

The general play-style is similar to this:

Actually it's only a guaranteed kill every 45s vs squishy people, don't need to be a bunker to have a balanced offense and defense which completely rips the balls off glass cannons in this game.

Originally Posted by draykorinee

Youre in the mmo forums and you find mmos boring, Im heading on over to the twilight forums to add my unecessary and shallow 2 cents.

Strange, it does for me. I have auto attack on 1, and when I go stealth it doesn't auto attack my stealth 1 ability.

Ofc it does your stalthy auto-attack. But wjen you are in stealth you want to move to the back of the mob and then use the ability manually (for mad hit combine this with Assassin's Signet (Deal 150% damage on your next attack). If you have auto-attack enabled it will stab mob as soon as you go in stealth.

@Crowe: backstab build is really easy to counter and when burst is on cooldown all thief can do is run/hide.

About your build: Have you considered Infusion of Shadow(Gain 2 initiative when using a skill that stealths you) instead of Cloaked in Shadow(Going stealth blinds nearby foes) on the Shadow Arts line?

I never posted my build so I'm not sure what you're asking. The video is only showing the play-style of Pistol/Dagger, not the build I'm using (still experimenting).

As for Initiative, since the vast majority of damage comes from auto-attack with Pistol/Dagger you really don't need to trait additional Initiative regen.

The Power from Pistol/Dagger comes from the Pistol Stealth attack that fires very rapidly, stacking bleeds very high very quickly. You're constantly weaving in and out of Stealth which makes for great synergy with the "Shadow Arts" tree and a very solid survivability.

The "problem" is you really want something from every trait tree.

The Deadly Arts tree gives your Bleeds extra duration and damage, but tends to be very Venom focused. So you'll need to use at least one, better two if you're going to invest heavily into it.

The Critical Strikes tree has nothing you need.

Shadow Arts is what defines the play-style as it buffs your Stealth. However it depends in you really want to invest 30 points, which is debatable.

Acrobatics in an all-around great tree. Depending on how frequently you dodge, it can be worth 15-25 points. If however you're using the Singet of Shadows you won't get much out of many of the early traits (since movement-speed increases don't stack).

Trickery would seem like an obvious choice for a Condition Damage build but it's not that great. Steal isn't such big deal for Pistol Dagger and you don't really need all the extra Initiative it gives unless you switch to Dagger/Dagger for Death Blossom spam a lot (which I rarely do). I still like dropping Caltrops everywhere so 10 points are always worth it.

^ You are kind of going towards so called venom builds. You can see these on pvp guides.

You should consider taking "Venomous Aura"-trait from Shadow Arts (When you use a venom skill, you apply the effects to all nearby allies as well). Even if you play as roamer you share your venoms to your two thieves(elite skill, Thieves Guild), it makes you the second strongest duelist in the game. This also works with Ambush utility skill (summons one of the two thieves from Thieves Guild when it is triggered).

Pistol/Dagger venom builds
They work thanks to Leeching Venoms. Therefore, you need a weapon set that keeps you safe and still allows you to unload a lot of strikes in a short ammount of time.

Safety is what Shadow Strike is the best at. As long as you keep your initiative for it, you will be able to kite any melee. Remember that you need to hit the melee strike to shadowstep away! Therefore, try to dodge melee crowd controls, they will destroy you! It's an extremly good way to get away from melee while you are immobilized.

Sneak Attack is a mini Unload, with hybrid damage, that allows you to make a Venom burst. This spell and Vital Shot are the main reasons why a Venom build should be played with hybrid damage: you apply lots of bleeds on top of your Spider Venom.

Cloak and Dagger is the skill that stealthes you. Therefore, it can be used defensively and offensively which makes it a better choice than Shadow Strike if you have enough initiative to use it, are not immobilized and are not facing an enemy with many point blank AoEs.

Body Shot is most of the time a spell you won't be able to invest initiative on and Dancing Dagger is extremly good but costs a lot. I'd suggest only using it if you can get it to go through combo fields or if you absolutely need a cripple!

Venom Share Cookie - Cutter Traits:Click Here
This is the basic trait distribution for a venom sharing build. It will do well in every situation, no trait is useless. You have Mug, which is the only trait you should always take as a roamer if you have to secure secondary objectives such as the Forest Monsters. It is an instant spell that does a decent amount of damage even with a non-crit/crit damage build. You have a decent initiative sustain thanks to Infusion of Shadow and Kleptomaniac, but your initiative pool is small (12).

The build is focused on venoms, so you'll take a lot of traits to improve those: Quick Venoms, Residual Venom and Leeching Venoms. You also bring Venomous Aura to share those venoms with your team. Anything that applies to your venoms, applies to the venoms you share. Therefore, Residual Venom and Leeching Venoms are team traits as well as solo traits. This allows your team to apply a lot of conditions, to have sustain and deal unavoidable damage through the life steal. You have access to Weakness with Lotus Poison and to team-wide Fury and Swiftness (plus 1 Might stack) with Thrill of the Crime. It is the most well-rounded Venom Share build.

Super Easy Venom Share: Click Here
Not much to say about this one. It's the easiest build to start with: lots of dodges thanks to the points in Acrobatics and some extra Initiative sustain thanks to Quick Recovery. A build that allows you not to worry about Initiative management and forgives bad dodges thanks to the amount of dodges it provides? Perfect to learn the build!

No share + Boon removal and team Boons: Click Here
This is one of the two duel-focused builds. If you know you will not be close to your team-mates often enough to make venom sharing worth it, you should go for one of these. You give up Venomous Aura to get Bountiful Theft and Preparedness that make you a 1v1 nightmare, especially when facing a profession that relies on a specific boon to do well. You still have some decent team support with Thrill of the Crime and Bountiful Theft.

No Share against high condition team: Click Here
Second duel-focused build! This time, you give up some extra damage and team-wide boons to get the extra survivability from the Acrobatics traitline. Check the « Venom Share against high condition team » build!

Leeching when used with spider or skale venom and venomous aura is really strong the heal is non trivial, iirc about 400 healing w/ just sa traits. Add to that fact that va will transfer the healing to whoever gets the venom and it's amazing group suppor

I use embrace mostly in places where hide in shadows isn't enough like ta or cof
There's really no point asking what the potential healing from embrace is. It's awesome when you need it and not awesome when you don't. Not to mention it depends on what conditions you're facing, how many light fields you have in group, how often you use those fields, and which enemies you fight

The searing effigy at the end of cof p1? Yea it's awesome since you remove the burn constantly and avoid the double damage